Blue Borage Conversation Cafés & Events
What People Are Saying
Even if it is difficult to talk about, it is far worse to live it in silence.
Our stories are different but so relatable. Thank you all.
This is the first time I’ve been in a room with both survivors and concerned parents. It felt like healing began there.
I didn’t know how much I needed this until I heard others speak the same things I’ve never dared say aloud.
Why Conversation Cafés?
Conversation Cafés are not webinars or peer support groups. They are lightly structured dialogues designed for shared inquiry, reflection, and respectful listening. Guided by principles of psychological safety and dignity, each session holds space for multiple truths to coexist.
We open each session with:
- Our Blue Borage conversation agreements
- A shared intention for respectful, consent-based dialogue
- An invitation to speak from lived wisdom, or to simply listen
Some sessions feature presentations or roundtable discussions. Others centre on art, writing, music, or interactive workshops. All are designed to nourish reflection, connection, and learning.
🔗 Each event below links directly to its own Eventbrite page to register, view your local time and all the details of the event. Alternatively
DECEMBER
The Elephant in the Room: Sibling Sexual Trauma and Abuse (SSTA) and the Holiday Season
Wednesday 3 December (Brisbane time 9:00-10:30 AM / Sydney-Melbourne time 10:00-11:30 AM / US CST 5:00-6:30 PM)
Note: We will be having only one event this December as the Seven Conversations Symposium was a huge day mid-November and we have a daughter graduating down in Melbourne in December, before she heads back overseas. The reading that Wendy is sharing in this 3rd of December event is the same as was shared in Conversation No. 7 at the Symposium.
[🔗 Register here]
💗 Join us for connection, reflection and self-compassion at Year’s End
The end of the year stirs many emotions: grief, gratitude, loneliness, love. For those affected by SSTA, the season can bring heightened tension — family gatherings where we feel disconnected in our hearts, walking on eggshells around those who don’t (or won’t) understand.
This December, we’re not wrapping it up with bows or pretending it’s all tinsel and joy. For some of us, this year has been the most connected we’ve ever experienced, being with ‘our people’ in this community from around the world.
So we will take time to celebrate that.
We started that celebration at the November Seven Conversations Symposium, in Conversation No. 7 on the day. For many of us, SSTA has made a lot of us change our arrangements around Christmas. We will be choosing to sit beside that elephant at the table together.
Wendy Walker’s Part 3 of the October series will be included in this conversation. Her subject title is Rebuilding from the Ruins: reflecting on family dynamics post-disclosure, including estrangement, partial reconnection, or thriving, apart. Receive a copy of Wendy’s unpublished essays as prereading. The event is now available for registration on Eventbrite…
Join us for reflection, honesty, humour, maybe a little Christmas crafting (paperclips, post-it notes, textas, if that’s your thing), supply your choice of beverage and a snack. We will begin with gentle grounding as we honour how far we’ve come and close the year in community, and we will close with a light practice in setting an outcome that is important to us.
JANUARY AND BEYOND
We will share the first few months’ plan for 2026 once we take a break over the Christmas period.
In the meantime, we can share that we’ve published a new offering on Eventbrite.
A small-group 10-session learning circle titled “Letting Go” has been published for registration. Due to begin on Friday 6th February 2026. Find out more on the dedicated page or head to Eventbrite to register.
A gentle, ten-session guided series for adults and families affected by sibling sexual trauma, exploring Dr David Hawkins’ Letting Go in a small, steady circle. This program offers grounding, reflection and calm companionship for those ready to soften the inner grip of survival and explore what surrender might feel like in a safe, trauma-aware community.
See the Wrap-Up of our 2025 Seven Conversations on Sibling Sexual Trauma & Abuse: An Online Global Symposium on it’s dedicated page.
SAVE THE DATE: Our Symposium will be back in 2026, not for 12-hours this time, however, it will be a rich, full, drop-in/drop-out day, on Thursday 12th November 2026 | Online
What to Expect at our Conversation Cafe events
- Curated Panel and Round Table Conversations: drawing together international lived experienced storytellers, survivors, professionals and artists
- Structured Dialogue: Facilitated discussion, presubmitted questions, live Q&A.
- Creative Showcases: When appropriate, panelists share creative work, poetry, music and visual arts or advocacy projects.
- Global Community: Designed to welcome participants across time zones, with two sessions per theme when possible.
Guiding Principles
Every Blue Borage Conversation Café honours:
- Dignity for all who attend, speak, or listen
- Agency in choosing how and whether to participate
- Consent and preparation before engaging in difficult topics
- Confidentiality and psychological safety throughout
- Curiosity and compassion over judgment or debate
These conversations are progressive, creative, empowered and brave.
They invite us into places that can feel deeply meaningful, and at times, tender.
Please take a moment to consider whether attending feels right for you, right now.
Healing is not linear. Some months you may feel steady enough to join us, and other months life, family or a passing comment can land more heavily than expected. Now and then someone might say something that sits awkwardly, and it is natural to carry that for a while afterward.
If that happens, it is perfectly okay to turn your camera off, step away to ground yourself, or choose not to attend that month. Your wellbeing comes first.
These gatherings often include both survivors and concerned parents. Many have done substantial inner work, yet some themes — intimacy, justice, forgiveness — can touch sensitive places.
If you notice irritation, rumination or a sense of being emotionally full before we begin, it may be helpful to speak with your therapist or support person. Some participants find it grounding to debrief with them after the event as well.
We provide a short reflection survey within 48 hours of each session, and at the end of the month we share a Recap Newsletter offering a gentle overview of the conversation.
All of it is a learning journey for everyone.
None of us have had these kinds of conversations, at least on the regular, so we are trusting the process and trusting the people attending to honour the conversation agreements and guidelines.
Each session is a space for insight, shared learning, and courageous connection. 💡 You don’t need to speak — just come as you are.
Who Are These Conversations For?
- Survivors of SSA and other forms of intrafamilial abuse or trauma. We know that SSA doesn’t stand alone in many of our stories – if you experienced one form or both, we see you. You are not alone.
- Survivors of sibling abuse (emotional, physical, psychological). Likewise, there is an undercurrent of each of these forms of abuse in most SSA stories or in the families of survivors.
- Allies, loved ones, activists and advocates, and those with a commitment to breaking cycles of harm.
- Educators, social workers, therapists, and mental health professionals seeking deeper understanding.
- Parents and carers wanting to create safer, more aware family environments.
- Anyone drawn to activism and advocacy, healing, justice, and compassionate systems change.
Want to Co-Create a Session?
If you have a lived experience or professional topic related to SSTA, DID, trauma-informed leadership, or family recovery and would like to co-create a session with Blue Borage, please reach out. We are open to co-creating with thoughtful individuals and organisations aligned with our values.
Join the Conversations
Follow Blue Borage on eventbrite.com.au to be notified of upcoming panel themes and register for sessions.
Registration Costs:
The 90-minute Conversation Cafe Events:
Standard Registration (90-minute events): AUD $40
Eventbrite will convert the amount based on your location. $40 AUD = approx. $26 USD | £21 GBP | €25 EUR (subject to exchange rates).
Community Discount Codes for the 90-minute Conversation Cafe Events are available for subscribers of the 5WAVES.org or INCESTAware.org newsletters and the Bright Futures community of practice in Australia. The discount code is shared in those organisations’ newsletters.
A Bring a Friend, 2-for-1 registration is also always available for our 90-minute Conversation Cafe Events. Register yourself and your buddy to come along. Please provide both email addresses and let us know both of your interest in the subject on registration.
The registration fee for the Conversation Cafe Event series are kept low, and they are necessary. Registration covers time costs for contributor coordination, event production administrator hours, our marketing team’s hours, business costs, planning and Zoom hosting, post-event summary creation, and pre- and post-event communication with our participants.
Stay Connected
Follow Blue Borage on EventBrite and across social media:
– Instagram and Facebook or search: @blueboragetraining
– LinkedIn: Blue Borage
– Website: www.blueborage.com.au